Title: Stranger Things
Author: thisflowerisscorched
Fandom: Stargate SG1
Characters: Sam Carter, Baal, Cameron Mitchell, General Landry
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 2,322


Sam Carter wriggled her toes. Stood to attention on the carpet in Landry's office, she couldn't do much else. The general had the bridge of his nose pinched. Feeling the urge to explain for a third time, Sam bit the inside of her cheek. No. She'd made her choice and refused to justify it any more.

The office door opened and a SF soldier came in. Accompanied. Sam blinked, having never expected to see Baal allowed in here. Not even a clone.

"Sir," the soldier said. "You wanted to see him."

Baal looked a little worse for wear. The black leather outfit he'd wore... wherever they'd ended up had been replaced by a shapeless grey jumpsuit. His left arm was in a sling. Sam wasn't sure that was necessary – shot or not, clone or not, he had a symbiote and that should hasten his healing. Either Carolyn had insisted, or Baal believed being injured would serve his purposes.

"Has he made a statement?" Landry asked.

Irritation flickered over Baal's face as the men talked over him. Sam gave him a small, wry smile. Welcome to my world.

"Yes sir." The SF put a manilla on the desk, not once releasing his grip on Baal's arm. "Sir? I think that's everything he knows."

Sam's eyebrows shot up along with Landry's. She watched him open the file, then leaf through page after page of neat handwriting blocked in black ink. At the bottom of each page, where he should have signed his signature, Baal had instead scrawled an approximation of his symbol. Landry looked up after a moment, eyes hard as he glared at the ex-System Lord.

"You realise we will need to verify this information?"

The corner of Baal's mouth twitched. "Of course."

Landry turned back to the first page. "This site you mention – where exactly is it?"

"Three miles south from the Stargate, as mentioned."

"Where, exactly?"

"I'm sorry, at the time I was evading unknown Jaffa forces and therefore didn't stop to get co-ordinates. Had I been aware that I would need these, I would have risked being shot by a staff weapon, as I really didn't wish to disappoint you."

Sam clenched her jaw to stop herself from laughing. It didn't help that Landry looked annoyed at Baal's sarcastic remarks. She close to focus very hard on one of the carpet's stars.

"Could you show a team?" Landry asked.

Baal smiled lazily. Sam fought the urge to punch it off his face. Again. "Perhaps. If you agree not to incarcerate me on my return. That–" He waved his right hand at the folder. "Is all I know of the Trust. There is more I can tell you and am willing to share, as long as I'm kept out of penal facilities."

Landry glowered at him. However, the fact he'd not immediately dismissed the offer meant he was considering it. Sam felt a suspicion growing in her gut. With Daniel missing, there was an empty spot on the team, and it had been her choice to grab the System Lord and haul him back to SGC. It had been instinct. Jack had drilled into her how one didn't leave a man behind. And he had helped. Sort of.

That didn't mean she wanted him on the team. Landry looked at her. She groaned aloud.

"Sir–"

"You did say that he might prove useful, Colonel," the general said. "Let's see if that theory pans out."

Sam opened her mouth, then closed it again with a shake of her head. She had said that. She really hoped that she was right. Glancing at him, she found there wasn't the usual smirk. He returned her look steadily. His expression was bland, even serious. It gave her hope that he had told the truth about the weapons repository.

As Landry issued orders, she supposed that she'd soon find out. Cameron was going to kill her.

*

An hour later, she, Cameron and Teal'c stood just beyond the DHD and took stock of the planet. Vala remained at SGC, probably still hoping for any news on Daniel. Cam checked that the DHD was operational, then threw a glance at Baal, who seemed a little lost. Aware that her friend's patience was already thin, Sam moved over to the Goa'uld.

"What's up?" she asked, voice pitched quiet.

"Something." Baal scanned the tree line. "What, I am unsure."

"You're sensing another Goa'uld?"

His shoulders lifted. "Perhaps. It seems... bigger."

Sam looked around, but wasn't sure of the itch she felt was down to sensing what Baal had or merely because he'd mentioned it. Or just her proximity to him. "Cam!" she called out. He turned. "There might be possible hostiles."

"Well duh!" he yelled back. "Isn't that our standard operating procedure?"

Sam looked at Baal, who was visibly fighting a smirk. She shrugged. "Pretty much, yes. Come on. South, right?"

"Indeed," he replied, deadpan, and set off. Sam cast a look to the careless sky and followed him.

The clearing around the Stargate extended perhaps fifty yards, then the dirt path disappeared into the trees. Tall, they resembled pines, except their thick trucks were covered in ruddy-coloured bark. The leafy canopy allowed in only a fractured light that deepened to dark shadows all around. Sam glanced from side to side, aware that anything could be hiding in the undergrowth.

Nothing moved other than the four of them. There was no bird song. The oppressive atmosphere tensed Sam's shoulders. She looked back at Cam, who frowned and canted his head for her to continue. She repositioned her rifle and lengthened her pace to catch up with Baal.

"How much further?" she asked.

He pointed through the trees. "Not far at all."

Though the trees thinned out, there was no increase in light. The temple looked vaguely Mayan; four-sided with steps going up one. Baal ignored these and walked round the right-hand side of the structure. A hole opened in the brickwork, scorched at the edges in clear evidence that someone – probably not very far from where Sam stood – had blown their way in. Or perhaps out. She wasn't going to ask.

Cam had his flashlight out. "I'll take point," he said in a tone that brooked no argument. Like Sam had planned to. She nudged Baal into following him, then took a breath before stepping into the tunnel.

The air was dry and dusty. Sticky threads caught in her hair. Sam grimaced and ran a hand through to dislodge them. She hoped to hell there weren't spiders crawling on her.

"Yo, Mordred," Cam called to Baal, using the name Merlin had called him. It was no doubt a dig at the Goa'uld being struck dumb by the Ancient. She tensed, ready for an outburst, but Baal only harrumphed. Cam shone his flashlight down each of the passageways he'd come across. "Which way do we go?"

"Left," Baal returned.

"Okay, lead on then."

They'd not gone that far when Baal stopped. "Ah," he said.

Sam swallowed her smirk. "Get the wrong one, Brainiac?"

Baal shot her a withering glare. "As it happens, yes. You have to understand that it wasn't me personally that came here. I'm remembering someone else's memories."

"I worry that I did understand that statement," she muttered in reply. Then she tilted her head. "Maybe that's what you were getting before – a remembered sense of danger."

"I thought you said it was you," Cam snapped, and got a look in response. He rolled his eyes. "Exaggerated that as well, did you?"

"It was me, but... not." A small smile pulled a corner of Baal's mouth up. "In other words, I told Landry what he wanted to hear. The information is still relevant, however."

"Except you got the wrong passage."

Baal glowered at Cam. "Except that."

"Okay, well we'll just head back," Sam interjected in an attempt to stall the brewing argument. "It's just a few yards."

Teal'c turned and took point. Sam motioned Baal ahead of her and then followed, putting herself between him and Cam. They walked the short distance to the junction and then took the right hand corridor. Sam heard Cam make a rude noise, but was relieved that he chose not to bait the Goa'uld further. She got a sense of tension from Baal, though she wasn't convinced it was merely down to the taunting. He'd been on edge since arriving on the planet.

She was about to ask, when there was the deafening sound of rock cracking. Cam shouted something, but then she was falling, down and down. She managed to sort of curl and braced for impact. What she didn't expect was to hit water.

It was freezing. She gasped in shock, which made her inhale a lungful. Flailing, she tried to keep herself at the surface, but her pack and vest absorbed water and weighed her down. Icy liquid closed over her head. She fought back to the surface. Took a desperate breath. Then was pulled beneath once more.

She sank down. The darkness blinded her. The freezing water sapped her strength. Her lungs screamed for oxygen. Unable to free her pack, Sam felt fear clench her chest. She was going to drown.

Water thundered as something impacted close by. A hand grabbed the back of her collar. The surface came into view as someone pulled her upwards. But the pack again dragged at her. Silver gleamed. It flashed downwards. She felt the straps go loose, then the pack and her vest fell away. However, then the burning got too much and she took a breath before she could stop herself.

Unconsciousness smeared the edges of her vision. Her face broke the surface of the water. She was dragged out none too carefully, then laid on her stomach. Her throat felt tight and, even though she knew she should be able to breathe, her body didn't seem to get the message.

Baal slammed a hand against her back. Once. Twice. On the third time, she coughed, choked, and then vomited up water. She coughed it from her lungs until her chest hurt and her eyes watered. Firm hands pulled her into a sitting position, then one grabbed her chin.

"Sam? Sam!"

"I'm okay." Her voice emerged rough. She blinked up at him. "Um, thanks."

"You saved my life," he replied quietly. "I thought I ought to repay the favour. Plus I was hardly just going to let you drown. Mitchell would kill me."

She laughed, then coughed again. Baal frowned and then shifted to her side. She flinched when his hand touched her back, but he didn't slap her. Instead, he rubbed her; round sweeping caresses that somehow eased the tightness in her chest.

"Sorry about your stuff," he added.

"Doesn't matter. I'd rather that sink than me." She looked up. The hole they'd fallen through was high above. Unreachable. "Do you think there's another way down?"

Baal's hand stilled. The warm of his hand seeped through the sodden fabric of his shirt. "I don't know." He loosed a sigh. "I hate not knowing."

Sam chuckled. "Ruins the whole God thing, huh?"

"Rather."

His hand hadn't moved. Sam wondered if she ought to mention the fact. However, it was kind of comforting, which in turn was a little discomforting. She shifted her weight towards him. He slid his hand to her hip. With a mental shrug, she leaned against his shoulder.

"Are you all right?" he enquired. His voice was soft, with none its usual sarcasm. Sam thought she detected a note of actual concern. "I mean you did almost drown."

The water was perhaps a foot down from the ledge they were sat on. With little light to illuminated the cave or whatever it was they were in, the liquid surface looked not unlike a black hole. She shivered.

"Well I was doing fine until you reminded me," she said sourly. His arm twitched. She sighed and patted his thigh. At least, she really hoped it was his thigh. "I'm okay. Chest hurts."

Her back did too, but she decided not to mention that. It might have seemed ungrateful.

"Do you want me to rub that better?"

For a second, Sam wasn't sure she'd heard that. His tone had been arched, suggestive even. Surely he wasn't coming on to her? Never mind that he couldn't possibly be interested, his timing sucked.

"Not really, no," she said, sitting straight.

"Pity. We've no idea if the rest of our team can make it down, or when, and it would have been a way of filling the time."

Sam turned. She could just make his face out in the gloom. He was smirking at her. She arched an eyebrow at him. "Even think of 'filling the time' like that again, and I'll punch you in the nose. Again."

His laughter echoed around the chamber, only to be interrupted by a grating sound. Sam blinked at the light that flooded though the opening in the wall. Cam charged forwards. She yelled a warning. He wavered on the edge of the ledge, before Teal'c grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

"There," she told Baal smugly. "It wasn't that long after all."

"Yes, but I believe the pain still bothers you." He stood, managing a haughty mien even when soaking wet, and waggled his eyebrows at her. "I could have relieved that for you. Am still willing, should you change your mind."

"Pain?" Cam looked at her. "You okay, Sam?"

"Yeah, just inhaled a little water. I lost my pack." She watched Baal stride past Teal'c into the tunnel beyond. As soon as he was out of ear-shot, she lowered her voice. "Okay, he cut it off me. He saved my life."

Shock widened Cam's eyes. "Baal?"

"Yeah." She shrugged. "So maybe that the report he gave to Landry is the truth after all. Stranger things have happened today."